by Dianna Love
Yes. She asked, Are you Tyler?
He nodded, staring over at Rory. I wait here every day for Rory. I didn’t think he would come and I’d eventually disappear. I am so sorry for what I did to him.
Siofra couldn’t believe this. She had to figure out how to relieve both of them of their guilt.
She said to his brother, Rory doesn’t blame you for anything.
Rory’s hand reached for hers and she wondered if he could feel his brother. He squeezed her hand.
His brother said, I know. Rory blames himself for me. I heard my family talking about it.
She needed to do something. She asked the brother, Would it be okay if I told him you were here?
Tyler leaned forward to look harder at Rory. What if he runs away?
She said, He won’t go anywhere without me and I’ll stay.
Okay. His brother straightened.
Squeezing Rory’s hand, she said, “Babe?”
“Yes.”
“Uhm, your brother wants to tell you something.”
Rory let go and jumped away. “What? Where is he?”
“Right next to me, big bad scary shifter.”
“Shh! He doesn’t know.”
His brother said, Yes, I do.
She repeated that.
Rory stared at the headstone then at Siofra. “How could he know?”
“Does it matter?” she asked, wanting to stay on topic.
His brother said, Tell him an older man with strange eyes, almost like eagle eyes, comes sometimes to talk. He can’t hear me, but he tells me how you are and the many great things you’ve done.
Softening her voice, she said, “Sounds like the Guardian has been visiting here to talk, but he can’t hear Tyler.”
Rory’s mouth gaped open.
She explained, “Tyler feels guilty about what happened.”
“Why? I’m the one that screwed up,” Rory complained in a savage voice. “I’m the one who left him to attend a shifter meeting alone.”
Tyler told her, Ask him if I had died five years later in a car wreck, would that have been his fault, too?
She passed along the question.
Rory didn’t respond.
His brother said, Exactly. I’m sorry I died, but it was going to happen at some point no matter what. I followed my heart and did what I believed in, which had nothing to do with Rory being here or not. I wanted to learn more about shifters. A shifter murderer killed me along with others that night. Tell him he might be glad to know they were captured and put down. I didn’t die because of a shifter and Rory is not evil because he’s a shifter. Looking over at Rory, Tyler spoke as if Rory could hear him. You’re a good man, Rory. You should stop punishing yourself and start living your life. You should visit our family, too.
She related it all word for word.
Rory shook his head and told his brother, “Our parents will never accept me again after I missed your funeral.”
Tyler said, Give them a chance. You might be surprised at what they’re willing to open their minds and hearts to for the sake of not losing another son. Don’t make them lose two.
Rory physically staggered when she said those last five words. It hurt to say the words, but he needed to hear them, and based on what Tyler said, Siofra worried there might not be another chance for these two to fix this.
She’d talked a lot in the last three days to Rory about his family, leading up to asking him for this trip. Once he got used to the topic, he admitted he recalled his mother begging him to come home more often, but his mind had been in chaos.
Rory stomped around a moment, then he squatted down and cried. He’d probably never allowed himself to mourn his brother. She dropped to kneel beside him and put an arm around her mate.
When the worst of it had passed, she pulled a tissue from her purse, because the baby was already triggering her own occasional waterworks.
Rory wiped his eyes and stood, pulling her up and to his side. He cupped her cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but I think your brother is waiting for you to speak to him again.”
Wiping his face and eyes with his palm, Rory stared at the marker since he couldn’t see his brother. “I still wish I had stuck around and at least talked to you, Tyler, but I was too embarrassed. I’d become a shifter and had seen how dangerous this world was for humans. I got angry about you exposing yourself to something I couldn’t run away from.”
His brother asked, Does Rory like being a shifter?
She would not answer for Rory so she put the question to him.
He hugged Siofra close. “I do now, bro. Took me a long time to accept it and I almost destroyed my animal in the process, but my savior showed up in time.” He kissed her head.
That started a flow of Siofra repeating his brother’s words and Rory answering in a relaxed way as if she wasn’t even present.
Tyler asked, What is your animal?
“A jaguar,” Rory said, pride filling his voice.
Wow, I’d love to see it, Tyler said.
Rory chuckled. “Can’t do it right now.”
What about later? Will you come back and show me?
Pausing, Rory had a thoughtful look. “Sure, I can do that, but ... don’t you want to like, cross over?” Those words had clearly been tough for Rory to get out.
His brother admitted, At some point, but I want to enjoy this a bit more before that. I miss you.
In a choked up voice, Rory said, “I miss you, too, bro. You have no idea.”
When Siofra noticed Tyler’s ethereal form wavering in and out, she suggested they come back tomorrow and talk some more. Tyler thanked her for bringing Rory, which touched her.
As Rory walked her back to their ride, he said, “That was ... pretty special.”
“Special enough to go see your family?”
“Yes, but not today or tomorrow. Soon though.”
That was good enough for her. Now that her energy had bonded to Rory’s, she could feel the difference. The dark places were shrinking and the lighter ones were filling in the holes.
Her mate would be a content man, a happy shifter and a good father.
Thanks for reading STALKING HIS MATE. I would really appreciate a review wherever you buy books – any length.
The next League of Gallize Shifters will be SCENT OF A MATE.
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www.DiannaLoveSignedBooks.com
join my PRIVATE PARANORMAL READER COMMUNITY
More stand-alone Gallize shifter stories coming soon.
GRAY WOLF MATE, MATING A GRIZZLY and STALKING HIS MATE are the first three books available in the League of Gallize Shifters series, all of which are stand-alone stories.
LEAGUE OF GALLIZE SHIFTERS
Gray Wolf Mate
Mating A Grizzly
Stalking His Mate
Scent Of A Mate
Dianna writes the Belador urban fantasy series and the Slye Temp romantic thriller series (completed for those who want to binge read!). Keep watch for more Belador urban fantasy books and more League of Gallize Shifters paranormal romance series.
Book 1: Blood Trinity
Book 2: Alterant
Book 3: The Curse
Book 4: Rise Of The Gryphon
Book 5: Demon Storm
Book 6: Witchlock
Book 7: Rogue Belador
Book 8: Dragon King Of Treoir
Book 9: Belador Cosaint
Book 10: Treoir Dragon Hoard
Tristan’s Escape: A Belador Novella
*To keep up with all of Dianna’s releases: sign up for her newsletter here.
The complete Slye Temp romantic suspense series
Prequel: Last Chance To Run (free for limited time)
Book 1: Nowhere Safe
Book 2: Honeymoon To Die For
Book 3: Kiss The Enemy
Book 4: Deceptive
Treasures
Book 5: Stolen Vengeance
Book 6: Fatal Promise
For Young Adult Fans – the explosive sci-fi/fantasy Red Moon trilogy by USA Today bestseller Micah Caida (collaboration of New York Times Bestseller Dianna Love and USA Today bestseller Mary Buckham).
Book 1: Time Trap (e-book free for limited time)
Book 2: Time Return
Book 3: Time Lock
To buy books and read more excerpts, go to
http://www.MicahCaida.com
Author Bio
New York Times bestseller Dianna Love once dangled over a hundred feet in the air to create unusual marketing projects for Fortune 500 companies. She now writes high-octane romantic thrillers, young adult and urban fantasy. Fans of the bestselling Belador urban fantasy series will be thrilled to know more books are coming after Treoir Dragon Hoard, plus Dianna has launched a new paranormal romance series – League of Gallize Shifters. Her sexy Slye Temp romantic thriller series wrapped up with Gage and Sabrina’s book–Fatal Promise–but Dianna has plans for HAMR BROTHERHOOD, a spinoff romantic suspense series coming soon. Look for her books in print, e-book and audio (most series). On the rare occasions Dianna is out of her writing cave, she tours the country on her BMW motorcycle searching for new story locations. Dianna lives in the Atlanta, GA area with her husband, who is a motorcycle instructor, and with a tank full of unruly saltwater critters.
Visit her website at Dianna Love or Join her Dianna Love Reader Community (group page) on Facebook and get in on the fun!
A WORD FROM DIANNA…
Thank you for reading STALKING HIS MATE and to all the readers who have written wonderful notes about my new League of Gallize Shifters series. I appreciate your feedback so much! And, yes, I do have more books planned.
As always, thank you to Karl, my rock and world. He handles many things so I can write like a madwoman.
A special thank you to Jennifer Cazares, Stacey Krug and Sherry Arnold for being very early super readers who catch a number of small things missed by all of us even after multiple editing passes.
I want to send a huge THANK YOU to my Super Team peeps who read early versions for review – you rock!!
I appreciate Cassondra’s sharp eyes and input, plus all the encouraging notes. Thank you to Judy Carney, who is always ready to help and with a smile on her face. Thanks to Joyce Ann McLaughlin, Kimber Mirabella and Sharon Livingston for being wonderful early readers, too.
Sending a shout out to Candi Fox and Leiha Mann, who support me in so many ways.
The amazing Kim Killion creates all of my covers and Jennifer Litteken saves my butt all the time with great formatting. Much appreciation to both of you.
Hugs and love to Karen Marie Moning, a wonderful and talented woman I think of as more than a friend.
Thank you to my peeps on the Dianna Love Reader Group on Facebook. I love coming out to visit with you.
Dianna